If we do-it-yourselfers have heard it once, we've heard it a thousand times: Paint transforms a home, quickly and affordably. Until, that is, a painting mistake sneaks into that slow-drying picture. To prevent paint projects from inducing panic pangs, here are 10 pro tips.

"There can be a warmth and a coziness to rich color," says Denver designer and color consultant KD Fikso, who calls herself "a one-woman, paint-flecked harbinger of change."

"The room becomes embracing rather than encroaching," she adds.

Along with home design magazines and blogs, your closet can be a good place to look for wall-color inspiration, because if you favor a certain color in your wardrobe, chances are it will induce smiles coming off a paintbrush. The restaurants, coffee shops and hotels that you find inviting also are ripe for plucking color and decorating inspiration.

2. History in the mix

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Some paint companies make products intended to suit a certain era of home architecture, so it can be helpful to color history into consideration.

Sherwin-Williams had the preservation set in mind when the company launched its Historic Collection, which breaks down color pairing by architectural styles such as colonial, featuring pale and muted shades; Arts and Crafts, with rustic greens and reds; and suburban modern, spotlighting cheerful hues that reflect 1950s Americana.

Red and blue vintage doors (The Denver Post | photos.com)

3. Paint the unexpected

Consider more than walls when strategizing a paint makeover. The ceiling counts. So do doors and trim.

Speaking of doors, painted front doors are gaining favor among weekend DIYers in need of a quick curb-appeal fix. In one recent House Beautiful article, designers lauded such unconventional front-door colors as plum, lime and pumpkin. "I think it's fun to experiment with something a little different on your front door," South Carolina designer Angie Hranowsky tells the magazine about Benjamin Moore's Venezuelan Sea, a dark blue-green.

Painting can be quick, but selection should take time, not just to pick the right color, but also to survey a paint's quality and application characteristics.

While some people give in to the temptation to paint sample squares directly onto the walls, designer Fikso prefers to paint posterboard samples that can be observed in different parts of a room, particularly up against doors or trim, and at different times of day.

"I never paint a sample directly on the wall because it's usually on top of another color," says Fikso, who's designing Beast and Bottle, a new restaurant going in on East 17th Avenue.

White old classic style headboard with a circle to write it on your personal initials or symbols (The Denver Post | istockphoto)

5. Accentuate the positive

If a brightly painted front door says "Come on in and relax," it makes sense to echo the welcome with some other quick paint spruce-ups. Better Homes and Gardens has these suggestions: spray-painting planters; stenciling a rug pattern onto the floor; color-washing an old piece of furniture; recoating mirror frames in vivid, modern hues, or overhauling a wooden bedroom headboard.

6. Wash and go

There is one more step homeowning painters can take to lessen the chances of being unhappy with a paint project: Wash walls first.

Worker protecting hand from detergents as they use a cleaning sponge. (The Denver Post | photos.com)

"A lot of times people buy a can, start painting and find they have issues," says Guiry's store manager Jason Reno.

He's talking about built-up dirt and dust on the walls that prevent paint from properly bonding. Simply wiping down walls with a damp rag can do the trick; using soapy water is even better.

7. The great tape debate

Experienced painters develop preferences, especially when it comes to tape. Some sing the praises of expensive painter's tape. Others, like DIY bloggers Shelley and Cason Smith (thehouseofsmiths.com), swear by an edger. But here's the secret every man trick for achieving professional looking paint results: Sealing the tape line with a dab of caulk.

"Painters run a real thin bead of caulk along the tape edge," Reno says. "If you want a super sharp, clean line, that's the only way to get it."

8. Right tools for the job

"Don't cheap out on the brush or the roller," adds Fikso, who is far from alone in recommending that DIYers invest in quality tools.

Guiry's Reno agrees. "With a cheap brush," he says, "you spend a lot of time pulling bristles off your walls."

One of the most common missteps that Reno witnesses? Failure to plan for all of the supplies necessary to complete a paint project. "Sometimes people don't buy everything they need at once and end up stopping in the middle," says Reno. "Ask before you leave the store, 'Am I forgetting anything?' Because painting isn't something you want to stop in the middle of."

Make that better paintbrush last, as well, by cleaning it properly. According to This Old House, latex paint should be rinsed off with hot water, using fingers to work the paint through the bristles until the water runs clear. To clean oil-based paint, writes Jennifer Stimpson with ThisOldHouse.com, dip the brush in a small container of solvent, swishing it from side to side and using the edges of the bucket to push the paint out of the bristles. Then refresh the solvent for a final rinse.

9. Preparation concentration

Taping and other prep work, when done right, often take longer than the actual painting. Here's Fikso's advice for shaving steps from the taping process:

"If you're doing a whole room, the best order is ceiling first, then trim, door and casings, and then the walls. That way, any spray or droplets from the ceiling will get painted over. And when you're painting the trim, it's OK to go onto the wall. You don't really have to tape for the trim. You just tape for the walls, then paint."

10. Looking tight in stripes

Creating a stripe effect with paint — either in complementary shades or in two shades of the same color — certainly can step up a room's style quotient. But many-a-DIYer has tried to tape and paint stripes with disappointing results.

Here is one way to settle the striping dilemma, courtesy of Fikso, who especially loves 12-inch-wide horizontal stripes in very similar tones:

• Paint the first color and wait for it to dry.

• Tape off the stripes.

• Paint over the tape seam with the same color that's underneath it and allow that to dry.

• Paint your second stripe color. The dried layer of the original paint over the tape will help create crisp stripe lines.

Online: Find great paint projects, tips and "I tried it" tales on the Colorado at Home blog denverpost.com/coloradoathome/

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